Singkawang
The Most Chinese City In Indonesia, Founded By Hakka Gold Miners, Where Spirit Mediums Are Carried Through The Streets On Blades At Cap Go Meh · Singkawang, West Kalimantan
Singkawang is the MOST CHINESE CITY IN INDONESIA by share of population - HAKKA, descended from the gold miners who came to West Kalimantan in the eighteenth century and organised themselves into KONGSI, mining federations that governed themselves so completely that one of them is sometimes described as an early republic. THE CITY IS CALLED KOTA SERIBU KELENTENG, THE CITY OF A THOUSAND TEMPLES, and the count is not seriously exaggerated. WHAT PEOPLE COME FOR IS CAP GO MEH, the fifteenth day of Chinese New Year, AND SPECIFICALLY THE TATUNG: spirit mediums who go into trance, PIERCE THEIR CHEEKS AND BODIES WITH SKEWERS, AND ARE CARRIED THROUGH THE STREETS STANDING ON BLADES. It is a Hakka practice that survives at this scale essentially nowhere else. AND IT WAS ILLEGAL: public Chinese expression was suppressed under the New Order until 2000. The date moves with the lunar calendar and the city fills for it months in advance, so book early or come in an ordinary month, when the temples are free and open, the Hakka food is the best in Indonesia, and the town is quiet.
Singkawang, West Kalimantan, Singkawang, West Kalimantan, Indonesia
SINGKAWANG IS ABOUT THREE HOURS BY ROAD FROM PONTIANAK, which has the airport; there is no rail. CAP GO MEH FALLS ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF CHINESE NEW YEAR and therefore MOVES WITH THE LUNAR CALENDAR, usually in February - ACCOMMODATION FILLS THE CITY AND THE SURROUNDING TOWNS AND MUST BE BOOKED MONTHS AHEAD. The tatung procession runs through the day and the streets are closed. THE TEMPLES ARE OPEN YEAR-ROUND AND ARE FREE, and the largest are in the centre. THIS IS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE, NOT A STREET FESTIVAL - keep back, follow the stewards, and do not touch the mediums or their equipment. OUTSIDE CAP GO MEH the city is quiet, the beaches north at Pasir Panjang are ordinary, and SINGKAWANG'S POTTERY AND FOOD are the everyday reasons to be here.